There's also something which seems to be different called "graduated response" that's not even a law or whatever, but they're doing it anyway no matter what anyone thinks about it. They're doing what they want.

They are going nuts trying to take over the internet. It's insane. The corporations and the government want complete control.

-------------------------------------------------Just months after the internet censorship bills SOPA and PIPA were taken off the floor, a new and similarly scrutinized bill, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) has been gaining momentum and support from big technology companies like Microsoft, Facebook, IBM, and others. Although the bill is fundamentally different than SOPA it raises many of the same privacy concerns. Let's take a look at the basics of how it might work and dig into why tech companies are currently supporting the bill.The Basics of CISPA

If passed, CISPA would amend the National Security Act of 1947 to allow government agencies to swap customer data from Internet service providers and websites if that data is a threat to "cyber-security." On a basic level the bill is meant to provide a means for companies and the government to share information with one another to fight against cyber threats. These threats are defined as:

Information in the possession of an element of the intelligence community directly pertaining to a vulnerability of, or threat to, a system or network of a government or private entity, including information pertaining to the protection of a system or network from efforts to degrade, disrupt, or destroy; or theft or misappropriation of private or government information, intellectual property or personally identifiable information.

CISPA currently has over 100 co-sponsors in Congress and 28 corporate supporters. While CISPA's similarities to SOPA and PIPA (here's a refresher on both if you need it) aren't immediately visible, activists are claiming CISPA is a cause for concern.

...

Much like SOPA, the wording in CISPA is broad and the broadness is the root of many of the concerns. A number of activists and rights groups have spoken out against the bill, including Anonymous who reportedly took down trade websites USTelecom and TechAmerica's in retaliation for their support. Digital rights group The Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF), spoke out against CISPA last month in a statement that targets the broad language used in the bill:

The broad language around what constitutes a cybersecurity threat leaves the door wide open for abuse. For example, the bill defines "cyber threat intelligence" and "cybersecurity purpose" to include "theft or misappropriation of private or government information, intellectual property, or personally identifiable information."

Yes, intellectual property. It's a little piece of SOPA wrapped up in a bill that's supposedly designed to facilitate detection of and defense against cybersecurity threats. The language is so vague that an ISP could use it to monitor communications of subscribers for potential infringement of intellectual property. An ISP could even interpret this bill as allowing them to block accounts believed to be infringing, block access to websites like The Pirate Bay believed to carry infringing content, or take other measures provided they claimed it was motivated by cybersecurity concerns.

The language the EFF is referring to is in the bill's definition of cybersecurity and what constitutes a threat. The above example provided by the EFF is an extreme one, but the privacy implications of the broadly defined "cybersecurity threat" is the cause for concern among CISPA's opposition. On top of using CISPA to fight against piracy it's feared the information gathered would be released too easily and would violate the Fourth Amendment because it offers a simple, warrantless means to acquire personal data.

Looks like Facebook is in support of CISPA and now there's a campaign to convince them otherwise.

..........

What is Facebook thinking?

They've signed on in support of CISPA -- the new bill that would obliterate online privacy, give the military crazy new abilities to spy on the Internet, and potentially let ISPs block sites and cut off users accused of piracy.

Click here to sign on to our open letter urging Facebook to withdraw its support for CISPA.

The Center for Democracy and Technology says, "CISPA has a very broad, almost unlimited definition of the information that can be shared with government agencies and it supersedes all other privacy laws."

According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation:

An ISP could even interpret this bill as allowing them to block accounts believed to be infringing, block access to websites like The Pirate Bay believed to carry infringing content, or take other measures provided they claimed it was motivated by cybersecurity concerns.

Internet users were able to push GoDaddy to withdraw its support of SOPA. Now it's time to make sure Facebook knows we're furious.

Click here to sign on to our open letter urging Facebook to withdraw its support for CISPA.

Yeah, that's what that previous article I posted is about. Microsoft supports it too. Everyone's wondering why facebook is pro CISPA but some say it's because it takes away responsibility from them so they don't have to worry about getting sued. Something like that. Whatever, facebook joined the ranks of the sociopaths. They don't give a sh*t. They just want to grab as much money as they can just like most corporations.

I also posted this other link in the other topic, It has some or all of the companies that are supporting CISPA.

------------------------------------------------The House of Representatives is preparing to vote on legislation that would give the government, including military spy agencies like the National Security Agency, unprecedented powers to snoop through people's personal information — medical records, private emails, financial information — all without a warrant, proper oversight or limits.

H.R. 3523, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), promoted as a measure to counter cyber attacks, would allow the NSA to collect the internet records of people who are not suspected of doing anything wrong. This unprecedented and broadly worded bill clears the way for internet providers, wireless carriers, and websites to share your personal information with military spy agencies.

Tell your Representative today to reject legislation that will make it easier for internet companies to share your personal information with military spy agencies.

If this bill passes, that's it, game over. You may not think this way yet or see it in the very beginning but the power this bill will give them will be all they need to control the internet.

------------------------------------------------

The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, or CISPA, is very bad news for Americans. And bad news for citizens of the Internet all over the world.

I was on cable news network RT America earlier today to discuss the real threat this bill poses to "everyday" people like you and I (i.e. not criminal masterminds nor "cyberterrorists," whatever that means). You can watch the whole clip directly below.

Few other points I wanted to briefly touch on, but didn't have time to:

1) The lack of media coverage, especially television and radio coverage, has been astounding. We saw something similar in the run-up to NDAA's passage into law, and in the days leading up to the Internet's "stand" against SOPA, which culminated in a Google homepage notice, Reddit blackout, and Wikipedia blackout as well. For example, with SOPA, I saw no mainstream U.S. television coverage whatsoever, except for a limp weekend morning segment on MSNBC where the anchor appeared uneasy about challenging his corporate bosses' views on the necessity of SOPA. I'm not saying there is something deeper going on. Then again, I'm not willing to deny that either -- this is just too weird. CISPA is clearly a very major story, of national political and economic significance, so why isn't it leading?

RT has been one of the few networks covering CISPA in-depth.

2) Once this becomes law, it will stay on the books probably forever. Don't hope for a re-do a few years from now. Our Internet privacy will be gone for good. Just as the Patriot Act was originally intended to "sunset" when America was no longer in immediate danger, and then was quietly extended with President Obama's authorization, CISPA will most certainly outstay its welcome.

3) Look at the broader trend: NDAA, H.R. 347, SOPA, ACTA, and now CISPA. Add it all up, and you have the recipe for a terrifying totalitarian state that makes The Hunger Games look like a weekend in the Bahamas.

-----------------------------------------------Right now, the US Congress is sneaking in a new law that gives them big brother spy powers over the entire web -- and they're hoping the world won't notice. We helped stop their Net attack last time, let's do it again.

Over 100 Members of Congress are backing a bill (CISPA) that would give private companies and the US government the right to spy on any of us at any time for as long as they want without a warrant. This is the third time the US Congress has tried to attack our Internet freedom. But we helped beat SOPA, and PIPA -- and now we can beat this new Big Brother law.

Our global outcry has played a leading role in protecting the Internet from governments eager to monitor and control what we do online. Let's stand together once again -- and beat this law for good. Sign the petition then forward to everyone who uses the Internet!

Our hundreds of thousands of emails and tens of thousands of phone calls have had a real impact:

Amendments were adopted that made CISPA (marginally) better.

Earlier this month CISPA was supposed to sail through, but we helped foment real opposition, and the vote was far closer than anybody could have imagined even a couple of weeks ago. Most Democrats held firm in opposition, and more than two dozen libertarian-leaning Republicans defied their leadership and vote no. Most importantly, President Obama has threatened to veto CISPA.

The Senate will consider cyber security legislation in the coming weeks.

On a bipartisan vote of 248-168, the GOP-controlled House backed the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), which would encourage companies and the federal government to share information collected on the Internet to prevent electronic attacks from cybercriminals, foreign governments and terrorists.

This is really sick. Looks like they're getting what they want. This will be the final blow to the free internet. Your privacy will be totally gone. Everything you do on the internet will be fair game. This bill is has elements that are undefined. They can do whatever they want with your info.

"Once the government has it, they can repurpose it and use it for a number of things, including an undefined national security use."

This is a continuation of the video on the previous link. People need to know this. It's pretty scary what the government can and will be able to do. "It's a militarization of cyberspace."

Even though CISPA is styled as a ‘cybersecurity’ bill, it explicitly allows the Department of Homeland Security and other government agencies like the National Security Agency (NSA) to use your information for ‘national security’ purposes—expanding the bill far beyond its purported goal. Bill sponser Mike Rogers introduced a package of amendments yesterday, but did not remove “national security” as one of the purposes for which information can be used.CISPA, “National Security,” and the NSA’s Ability to Read Your Emails

------------------------------------------------While the Internet has been bristling with anger over the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, the Internet industry has been either silent or quietly supportive of the controversial bill. With one exception.

Late Tuesday, Mozilla’s Privacy and Public Policy lead sent me the following statement:

While we wholeheartedly support a more secure Internet, CISPA has a broad and alarming reach that goes far beyond Internet security. The bill infringes on our privacy, includes vague definitions of cybersecurity, and grants immunities to companies and government that are too broad around information misuse. We hope the Senate takes the time to fully and openly consider these issues with stakeholder input before moving forward with this legislation.

CISPA was introduced to the House in Novemeber with the intention of allowing more sharing of cybersecurity threat information between the private sector and the government, but has since been criticized for a provision that would also allow firms to share users’ private data with agencies like the National Security Agency or the Department of Homeland security without regard for any previous privacy laws.

Just before its passage last Thursday, the House added new amendments broadening that sharing to not just information about cyberattacks but also any case that involves computer “crime,” exploitation of minors or even “the protection of individuals from the danger of death or serious bodily harm.”

But despite the outcry over the privacy violations the revamped bill might allow and even a threatened veto from the White House, tech firms have largely stood behind it–CISPA’s official supporters include Facebook, Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Oracle and Symantec among others–carriers including AT&T and Verizon have signed on, too. Despite reports that Microsoft had backed off its support for the bill citing privacy, a Microsoft spokesperson Monday told reporters that the company’s supportive position on CISPA remains “unchanged.”

Mozilla didn’t offer any further comment on its decision to break with that collection of CISPA supporters. But it wouldn’t be the first time Mozilla has taken an outspoken role against controversial legislation: In January’s protests of the Stop Online Piracy Act, Mozilla joined Reddit and Wikipedia in a “blackout” of its sites, replacing their content with information about SOPA’s violation of free speech rights.

Google now remains perhaps the only major tech firm that has yet to take a stance on CISPA. In a statement, a Google spokesperson tells me that “We think this is an important issue and we’re watching the process closely but we haven’t taken a formal position on any specific legislation.”

Debate over CISPA now moves to the Senate, where it must be squared against one of two very different bills proposed by Senators John McCain in the first case and Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins in the other. In the melee to come, Google, like its smaller Mountain View neighbor Mozilla, will likely have to choose a side.

---------------------------------------------------Tomorrow is a very important day in American politics. A landmark amendment to the National Security Act of 1947 has been pushed through the House of Representatives and is set for a rushed vote in the Senate. CISPA (Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, H.R. 3523) is an amendment that would update the law to include the ability to govern the sharing of specific information between private companies and the government that is deemed a “cyber threat.”

If SOPA/PIPA was about censorship, CISPA is about privacy.

I’m curious though, what does the amendment define as a “cyber threat?”

“Information in the possession of an element of the intelligence community directly pertaining to a vulnerability of, or threat to, a system or network of a government or private entity, including information pertaining to the protection of a system or network from either ‘efforts to degrade, disrupt, or destroy such system or network’; or ‘theft or misappropriation of private or government information, intellectual property or personally identifiable information.”

So really anything could be a “cyber threat” right? Just wonderful.

Well, why should you care? Because it’s legislation that can, and will have implications on our society, government, future laws, and most importantly you. This little provision would pretty much nullify existing privacy laws and give corporations legal immunity for sharing your information and communication with the government. In its current form, CISPA affects our fundamental rights to privacy and freedom of expression, and in the name of “national security,” our government has proven time and time again that it will continue to cater to corporate manipulation and special interest groups at the cost of the average American.

What CISPA effectively says is that the 4th Amendment does’t apply online. Also the government structured the bill which exempts CISPA from the Freedom of Information Act. The legislation is now currently tucked inside of Senate bill S.2105, which has bipartisan congressional support, and will likely pass without a majority of the public even knowing it exists.

But it gets better. The meetings were all held in secret too…

Oh, and did I mention that the amendment is terribly vague when it comes to the limits on how and when the government may (will) monitor a private individual’s personal information? Text messages? Check. Emails? Check? All shared freely between corporations and the government.

Here’s a good one: What company just went public in the stock market and has almost a billion subscribed users? If you said Facebook, well you were right, or you looked ahead and saw what I wrote (smarty pants).

Facebook will spy on you and your friends. It will gather all your “private” information, allow the government to use it anytime against you, and for whatever reason it sees fit. Does the government need to know what you did this morning when you woke up? Not really. What about the conversation in messenger you had about the new Game of Thrones episode? Doubt it. So why does the government need to be constantly checking what websites you go to, what you say, and when you do it? Good question.